serious official inquiry?"

"The Patroon of Kinderhook is a bold boarder!" returned the free-trader,
laughing. "He has carried the residence of the lady of the brigantine by a
coup-de-main; and he reposes on his laurels! We of the contraband are
merrier in our privacy than is thought, and those who join our mess seldom
wish to quit it."

"There may be occasion to look further into its mysteries--until when, I
wish you adieu."

"Hold!" gaily cried the other, observing that Ludlow was about to quit the
room--"Let the time of our uncertainty be short, I pray thee. Our mistress
is like the insect, which takes the color of the leaf on which it dwells.
You have seen her in her sea-green robe, which she never fails to wear
when roving over the soundings of your American coast: but in the deep
waters, her mantle vies with the blue of the ocean's depths. Symptoms of a
change, which always denote an intended excursion far beyond the influence
of the land, have been seen!"

"Harkee, Master Seadrift! This foolery may do while you possess the power
to maintain it. But remember, that though the law only punishes the
illegal trader by confiscation of his goods when taken, it punishes the
kidnapper with personal pains, and sometimes with--death!--And,
more--remember that the line which divides smuggling from piracy is easily
past, while the return becomes impossible."

"For this generous counsel, in my mistress's name I thank thee;" the gay
mariner replied, bowing with a gravity that rather heightened than
concealed his irony--"Your Coquette is broad in the reach of her booms,
and swift on the water, Captain Ludlow, but let her be capricious,
wilful, deceitful, nay powerful, as she may, she shall find a woman in the
brigantine equal to all her arts, and far superior to all her threats!"

With this prophetic warning on the part of the Queen's officer, and cool
reply on that of the dealer in contraband, the two sailors separated. The
latter took a book, and threw himself into a chair, with a well-maintained
indifference; while the other left the house, in a haste that was not
disguised.

In the mean time, the interview between Alderman Van Beverout and his
niece still continued. Minute passed after minute, and yet there was no
summons to the pavilion. The gay young seaman of the brigantine had
continued his studies for some time after the disappearance of Ludlow, and
he now evidently awaited an intimation that his presence was re